Dominican National Charged with Unlawful Reentry Following Alleged Involvement in Overdose Death

BOSTON – A Dominical national was arrested and charged today with one count of unlawful re-entry of a deported alien.

Joel Perez Matos, 35, who resided in Boston, was charged with unlawfully re-entering the United States after being deported.  According to the charging documents, Perez Matos unlawfully re-entered the United States after being deported in December 2019.  Perez Matos had previously been removed in February 2016, and had unlawfully returned to the United States later that year.  Following his appearance in federal court today, Perez Matos was detained.

According to court documents, on March 22, 2020, within a few months of having been removed from the United States, Perez Matos was arrested by the Stow Police Department and charged with a heroin-related offense.  At the time of his arrest, Perez Matos was in possession of a cell phone that had allegedly been used the previous day to set up a drug transaction with a Massachusetts resident.  On March 22, 2020, that resident died of an apparent drug overdose.  When arrested, Perez Matos presented police with an out-of-state driver’s license in a fake name.

Perez Matos faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.  United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Marcos D. Charles, Acting Field Office Director, Enforcement and Removal Operations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Boston, made the announcement today.  The Stow Police Department also provided valuable assistance.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Abely, Deputy Chief of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit, is prosecuting the case

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.